Why Armstrong Sperry, one of the more versatile and vivid authors and illustrators this country has produced, is not more appreciated staggers our imagination. His great grandfather, Sereno Armstrong, was a clipper captain, and his tales of life under sail in the South Pacific obviously captivated the Connecticut youngster, and ultimately provided the setting for his Newbery Award winner, Call It Courage. But his historical novels, all based on solid research and a strong narrative line featuring younger boys facing daunting challenges, are real page turners. This is one of his best, and despite a whiff of period chauvinism, it will really give you a sense of what a journey along the Santa Fe Trail in 1846 must have been like and how a restless America managed to wrestle much of the Southwest from Mexico and the Indians. As always, the book is illustrated with spirited drawings by the author, and darn good ones they are, too!
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Sperry's 1936 novel offers a different take on the "settlers going West" story by presenting it through the eyes of 15-year-old Jonathan Starbuck, who leaves Missouri with a wagon train heading to Santa Fe. Sperry illustrated his own texts, and this volume sports a dozen full-page works as well as numerous smaller ones throughout. This also has a brief glossary of terms.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real page turner,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wagons Westward: The Old Trail to Santa Fe (Paperback)
A classic American frontier story, set in the 1840's by the author of "Call it Courage" (Newberry Award) , and "All Sails Set". A young man named Johnathan Starbuck and his father live in Missouri. His father was a frontiersman, always pushing to new lands until an accident cost him the movement of his legs. When his father passes on, Jonathan joins a commercial venture wagon train heading to Santa Fe as a scout. The boss is a dark-hearted scoundrel that cannot be trusted. But Jonathan has a friend and mentor to teach him the ropes. Along the way he gets involved in buffalo hunts, Indian wars, discovers a plot involving the New Mexico territory, and more. Well researched, the book gives you a feeling of what it must have been like to be there. There is lots of terminology from the trail here. Unfortunately it is also loaded with racial remarks, things that are very offensive in our times, but must have been acceptable in 1936 when the book was written.
Sperry created the numerous illustrations himself, and they are well done. This short historical novel about the adventures of a 15 year old adventurer are gripping indeed.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
